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DOWAGIAC — A slow start spelled doom for the Dowagiac girls basketball team Tuesday night.

The Chieftains were outscored 18-5 by visiting Lawton in a non-conference contest. The Blue Devils went on to defeat Dowagiac 54-27 as the Chieftains dropped to 0-3 on the season.

“We need to do a lot better job executing what is drawn up in timeouts and what we do at practice offensively,” said Dowagiac Coach Jason Turner. “We also need to do a better job at communicating both offensively and especially defensively. We cannot continue to give up this many points and expect to win. Our defense needs to lead into our offense. We have a lot of work to do before Friday’s game.”

Lawton (2-0) led 33-12 by halftime and 39-18 heading into the fourth quarter.

Alanah Smith had 10 points to lead the Chieftains. Josie Lock added nine points.

Reese Olson scored 13 points for the Blue Devils, who also got 11 points from Sarah Dekoning.

Dowagiac hosts Otsego in a Wolverine Conference non-division contest Friday night.